their adventure
by showobsessed
Summary: beckett has a hard case and the person she wants to turn to is the same person she should stay away from
1. Chapter 1

Everything was so difficult when it came to her life; her job, her relationship, everything. She had been dating josh for quite awhile now and all her difficulties seemed to melt away when she was with him. That was until the kiss Castle and she had shared on that very memorable night. The first was just for show, but the second was filled with passion. Something she had never wanted to admit appeared in those few seconds that her lips were locked with his. They never talked about what had happened that night, but ever since then she couldn't help but think of what it would be like if she were with Castle instead of Josh.

They had recently gotten a case that was similar to one she had had before. A sociopath was killing innocent woman in hopes of Beckett solving the murders and finding the person responsible. The killer, the same as before, thought of Beckett as Nikki Heat instead of who she really was. As soon as the file for the second murder landed on her desk she knew immediately what was happening.

If she were alone she would have broken down right then and there, but she was in the precinct where all of her friends happened to be working. Everyone thought of Beckett as the hard-ass detective who didn't let anything get in her way of finding the murderer.

Beckett had never truly intended to join the police academy the only reason she joined was because of her mother's murder.

When Beckett was 19 her mother had been brutally murdered in an alley. The police ruled it as gang violence, but Beckett knew otherwise. She thought that if she were to join the academy she would be able to find the true reason her mother was killed and help others so they wouldn't have to go through what she went through at such a young age.

Kate sat there looking over the whiteboard with the timeline and all the information they had on the victims unaware of what was going on around her. She was in such deep thought trying to find a connection that she hadn't realized Castle had walked up behind her.

"Hey I thought you might need this," Castle said as he placed a cup of coffee beside Beckett.

Kate, pulled out of her thought bubble, turned to see Castle standing there smiling with his normal lopsided grin that she had come to enjoy.

"Thanks. I've been staring at this board all day long and can't seem to find a connection between our two vics."

As Castle and Beckett turned to look at the board together Esposito hung up the phone and said, "A body was found in the park. Lanie seems to think it's our same killer."

With a heavy sigh Beckett picked up her coat and coffee and said, "Let's go Castle."

All they had to do was look at the victim to realize that the killer was the same as the other two murders plus, like the other times, he had left a note addressed to Beckett. As Beckett read the note Castle could tell that the case was starting to get to her.

_Dear Nikki,_

_Every minute you take trying to find me is a risk you take of me killing another innocent woman. For their sake I hope you can find me._

_Sincerely, _

_Your loving fan_

When Beckett finished the note she put her hands on her hips and muttered something to herself that Castle could barely hear, but sounded something like, "That bastard has no idea who he's messing with."

"Esposito, can you run this and see if the killer happened to leave his prints on it."

"Sure Beckett no problem. Ryan and I are gonna go canvas to see if anyone saw what happened here," Esposito said as he turned to leave.

"Lanie, do you have the time of death?" Beckett asked while turning her attention back to the body.

"As of right now it's hard to tell because of the snow, but I'll have a better idea when I get her back to the lab. Listen Beckett if you need to go home…"

"No, I'll be fine," Beckett said a little harsher than she meant, "Just call me when you know some more information."

She started walking towards the car so quickly that Castle had to run to catch up with her.

"Are you sure you're alright? You seemed a little upset," Castle asked in a concerned tone that made Beckett feel a little sorry she was being so difficult.

Beckett nodded as she wiped away a tear that she would never admit to having.

"I just need to go back to the precinct to see if there is anything that connects our 3 vics."

"Beckett," Castle said as he grabbed Kate's shoulder and turned her so they were now facing each other, "Let's go get something to eat. You haven't eaten at all today."

"Yea I have. I had a bite of a doughnut this morning."

"You need to eat more than just a bite of doughnut. Come on let's go to Remy's and grab a burger."  
Now that she thought about it her stomach was growling and it wouldn't hurt if she took 30 minutes off to eat.

"Alright Castle. One burger, but then I'm going back to work."

There it was again, that same grin that made Beckett smile herself.

As soon as they got there Castle had ordered a beer for the both of them. He used the excuse that it was just one and Beckett really needed it. Sadly Beckett agreed and took a huge gulp before Castle could say I told you so. Before they knew it they had drank four beers each and were starting to get a little drunk.

"I really need to get back to work Castle," Beckett slurred, "Come on let's go."

She reached for her keys as if she were going to get up and drive away like this. Luckily Castle had better reflexes than she did at the moment and grabbed them for she could.

"Castle, give me my keys back I need to go."

"You're not going anywhere you're totally trashed. Let me drive you."

Beckett scoffed, "Castle you aren't much sober than I am."

As Castle walked towards the door Beckett tripped out of the booth and rushed after him. Since she was so intoxicated she didn't realize that Castle had suddenly stopped and she ran right into him.

"Castle, what the hell are you doing?"

As she looked up she saw him gesture towards a taxi. "Since you won't let me drive you let me pay for your taxi." He still had her keys so she didn't have much of a choice. She slid smoothly into the taxi and he followed quickly after her.

The ride to her house was silent, but not an awkward silence. The only time either one of them spoke was when Kate told the driver that this was her building. The taxi driver nodded and pulled over to the side of the rode to let her out. Castle paid the guy and started to follow Beckett up to her apartment when she turned around and said, "What do you think you're doing? You aren't coming up to my apartment." Castle frowned and said, "Well the taxi has already left and plus I still have your keys." He swung them in front of her face as if teasing her. Unfortunately he was too drunk to get them fast enough. So she had no other choice to invite up.

The ride in the elevator up to her apartment was much like the ride in the taxi, silent. Beckett fumbled with her keys unable to get the right one. Castle eventually had to help her unlock her own door which made her blush a little.

"Do you want anything to drink?"

"Do you have wine?"

"You really think more alcohol would be good idea?" She asked as she raised her eyebrows.

"Why not. What harm could it do?

She shrugged her shoulders and walked over to the cabinet to get two glasses out and started pouring the wine. He watched her intently. Man was she gorgeous; her long brown hair, lean body, and those legs. He loved it when she wore things that showed off her legs, which she rarely did, only on special occasions.

"So where is Josh?" Castle had been wondering all night.

"Probably a late shift at the hospital. Some important surgery he had to do." Castle could hear the hurt in her voice. "Well here is your wine," Beckett said as she handed him the glass and sat down so their knees were slightly touching.

He watched her as she took a long sip from her glass and then followed her action. All the wine he had tonight he was going to pay for it tomorrow.

"So are you ever going to give me my keys back or are you going to keep them and put them in your shrine," she said as she laughed at her own joke. The wine was definitely getting to her.

"How did you know that I had a shrine for you?" he teased.

As she grinned she said, "Well Castle you wouldn't be the first."

"Oh I knew you were popular, but I didn't know you were that popular."

She laughed and rolled her eyes, "You'd be surprised how many people love me," she said it jokingly, but what he said slightly knocked the breathe out of her.

"Kind of like I love you." He had that same grin that he was famous for. Before she knew what was happening she had leaned forward to kiss him. It was long and passionate. She couldn't tell if it was from all the alcohol she had consumed or if it were true feelings, although she thought it to be a mixture of both. They pulled away from each other only because of lack of oxygen.

"Sorry I don't know…" Before Kate had time to finish her sentence Castle had pushed her onto her back and his hands were roaming all over her body. The only thing she could think of at that moment was the fact she was glad they had set their glasses on the table before anything happened.

Kate had her hands in Castle's hair as if to hold onto him and reality while Castle was unbuttoning her shirt. Kate couldn't think straight. She knew this was wrong, but it all felt so good and her mind was so cloudy that she could barely tell what was happening. Her shirt suddenly flew open and before she knew it Castle was kissing his way from her neck to her black lacey bra. Luckily she wore sexy undergarments Kate thought to herself.

Without hesitation Kate grabbed the bottom of Castle's shirt and yanked it upward so his chest was now visible. Oh God Kate thought as she stared at Castle's chest. Her hands were working their way down his chest to his pants. Within seconds Kate undid his pants and was yanking them off.

He looked down at her with a devilish grin, "Now I think you have too many clothes on," Castle said in a husky voice as he unbuttoned and yanked Kate's pants off. He was so quick that Kate couldn't help but let out a slight gasp. As Castle tried to wrap his arms around Kate, so he could be closer to her, he hit his elbow on something and fell off of Kate onto the floor. Before Kate could stop herself she was laughing hysterically. Watching Castle fall off the couch was the funniest thing she had seen in awhile. For some reason Castle falling off the couch snapped her back to reality.

Beckett's face got all serious, "Castle I can't do this. We shouldn't be doing this."

"What are you talking about? You seemed to be enjoying yourself until I fell off the couch," he seemed hurt.

"I know, but I can't do this to Josh. I think you need to leave. I'll call you a cab." Before he had time to protest she had gotten off the couch and walked into her bedroom. When she came out of her bedroom minutes later in sweatpants and a hoodie, Castle was gone.

When Castle got home that night he had five missed calls from Beckett. Instead of calling her back he ignored them and went to bed.


	2. Chapter 2

Kate woke up with a major headache the next morning. Instead of dwelling on last night she cursed herself for the major consumption of alcohol and the Castle mistake and went to take a shower. Before she could go to work though she had to go to Remy's to get her car. Thanks to Castle she was going to be late. When she got to work she expected to see Castle sitting there spinning in her chair like a 12 year old, but he wasn't.

"Where's Castle?" she asked Ryan.

"I don't know he hasn't called. Must be late," ryan responded with a shrug.

With that Castle came strolling in with the usual coffee.

"I'm sorry about last night," Kate started, but he cut her off. "It's a new day Beckett, don't worry about it." Even though he said it she could still see the same hurt in his eyes that she saw last night.

"Alright then let's get to work we still have a killer that needs our finding."

As the hours passed Beckett and Castle became exhausted and frustrated. Nothing about this case was normal nor was it easy to find a connection much less solve. The only thing that knocked her out of her thoughts was the movement of Castle getting up to go to the bathroom.

"Sorry Beckett, but all this coffee is running right through me."  
"Castle I don't want to hear about your bladder problems," Kate said as she stood up to go to the break room.

Before either of them could go anywhere the phone rang. Esposito picked up the phone and they immediately knew what the phone call was about by the look on his face. After he hung up the phone he turned to them and said, "Another…" Kate cut him off, "Another murder?"

"Yea 5th and Lexington same guy."

When they arrived at the murder Castle slightly gasped at the site. The woman's body was mangled in an awkward way and she had multiple stab and bullet wounds. There was crimson blood all over the carpet that the woman was laying on when she was murdered. The same thought was running through everyone's mind. The killer was starting to get more violent. As if clockwork Lanie held up a piece of paper that Castle assumed was another note from the killer.

_Dear Nikki,_

_I'm starting to get a little worried that you haven't found me. I thought you were the best, but by the looks of it I guess you're not. Time's running out and I have already picked out my next victim. Hope you can find me before I get her._

_Sincerely,_

_You're loving fan_

"What does it say?" Esposito blurted out before he could stop himself.

"He has his eyes set on another victim."  
"But we just found this body how does he already know who he's going to kill next?"

"He's starting to get impatient. This could be the perfect opportunity for us to catch him. We all know that when a killer starts to get impatient is when he starts to make mistakes. Check everything for fingerprints and any spec of something that could tell us who this guy is."

On the ride back to the precinct Castle could tell Beckett was tense. Her hands were gripping the stirring wheel so tightly her knuckles had turned white.

"Why don't you ever let me drive?"

"What are you talking about Castle?"

"You never let me drive and I don't get why."

"Because I don't trust you're driving."

"I am the best driver. I always win when I play driving games on the wii." The laugh he got from Beckett was exactly what he was looking for.

With a slight chuckle she responded, "Well Castle I think driving on the wii and driving a real car is a little different."

"You have no idea how hard it is to drive a monster truck with a little stirring wheel. It takes so real talent to control those cars."

The teasing went on until they arrived at the precinct. Usually there would have been much more throughout the day, but both of them had been walking on egg shells all day because of the incident that had occurred the night before. Neither one of them knew how to deal with it. Castle knew what he did and said last night was something that he did because he truly loved Beckett, not because he wanted to see what she'd be like in bed.

Beckett on the other hand was completely confused. She had feelings for Castle and that she was sure of, but she wasn't sure what they were. They had been working with each other for more than three years now and something had been brewing between them. A year ago she was going to tell him how she truly felt, but his ex-wife walked up and interrupted everything. Now she had Josh and that seemed to be working out perfectly fine.

"Are you going to get in the elevator or do I have to carry you in here?"

Beckett didn't realize the elevator had arrived and she hadn't gotten in. They rode up to their office with the same thought in mind. What am I going to do? The bell dinged for them to get off and they both stepped off at the same time to walk to their desk.

"You want some coffee?" Castle asked as he walked towards the break room.

"Uh yea sure I'll take some coffee."

Castle brought back the coffee and set it on Kate's desk as she was typing something on her computer.

"What are you doing?"

"Doing something on my computer."

"Oh is it porn? Let me see," Castle said as he leaned over to look at the computer screen.

"Seriously? You think I would be sitting here during a murder investigation looking at porn?"

"Sounds like something I'd do."

"Why don't you go find something shiny to play with while I do actually work," Beckett said as she turned back around to face her computer.

"Fine, but you know you'll miss while I'm gone," Castle sang as he walked away.

Beckett rolled her eyes, "Doubt it," she whispered under her breath.

It had been an hour since Beckett had seen Castle. He was probably getting into something he shouldn't she thought as she stood up to go find him. She had searched the entire place before she went down a deserted hallway. A sudden movement had caught her eye. Trying to figure out what had moved she walked towards a door that was partially opened with her hand on her gun. When she was standing directly in front of the door she reached out her hand to open it when the door flew open and Castle grabbed her arm to pull her into a closet that she didn't even know existed.

"What the…" Castle started kissing Beckett ferociously to get her to stop talking.

"Castle," she moaned as he kissed his way down her neck, "What are you doing?"

"Finishing what we started last night."

"We can't. I'm with Josh."

He noticed that she didn't say she loved Josh just that she was with him. This made him want her even more.

"Beckett we both know that we want this. Stop fighting it. I'm not going to back down like I did last night."

She didn't know why what he just said made her go for it, but she did. She grabbed the nape of his neck and pulled him towards her. With that he kissed her their tongues battling for dominance. Articles of clothing were flying everywhere in a frenzy to get to bare skin. As quickly as it had started it ended. They were lying on the floor when Beckett sat up and started putting her clothes back on.

"What are you doing?" Castle asked

"I shouldn't have done this. Oh my gosh we just had sex and I'm dating Josh," she turned to Castle, "What the hell is wrong with you? You know I'm dating Josh so why the hell did you pull me in here to have sex with you?" she was now yelling at him. He reached out to grab her arm to calm her down, but she pulled away.

"Castle stay away from me."

With that one line Castle's heart tore and Beckett rushed out of the closet looking frazzled with tears streaming down her face.

When Beckett walked through the door to her apartment the one person she didn't want to face right now was standing in the middle of her living room holding flowers.

"Josh what are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd surprise you with some flowers and of course my amazing presence," he said with an adorable smile.

How could she be so stupid? Josh was a great guy and Kate knew she liked him so why had she just had sex with Rick Castle in a closet.

"Are you hungry?" Josh asked.

"Not really I ate something at the precinct. I'm really tired though so I think I'm just going to take a shower and go to bed."

"Alright well you want me to leave?" he asked with a hurt voice. She had seen that hurt face too many times by Castle. She didn't want to be around Josh right now, but she didn't want to be alone.

"It's alright you can stay the night here. Let me just go take a shower then we can go to sleep."

In the shower she tried to scrub away all the pain that she was feeling right now. Not so much as physical pain, but mental. What she was doing to Josh, the woman who were being killed because she couldn't find the killer, and most of all Castle.

As she walked out of the bathroom into her bedroom Josh was lying in bed waiting for her. She climbed in next to him and his arm immediately was draped over her holding so her back was up against his chest. The gesture was sweet, but his arm wasn't the one she wanted. While she lay there trying to fall asleep thoughts of Castle came rushing back to her and tears filled her eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

I'm a little stuck with what should happen next so if you have any suggestions don't hesitate to tell me. Thanks

Something was making noise but Kate couldn't tell what it was. She was right in the middle of a great dream with Castle where no one was standing in the way of their relationship. As Kate rubbed her eyes she realized that her phone was the object that possessed the annoying noise. As she reached over to see who it was she realized that Josh still has his arm draped over her. She didn't want to wake him so she gently picked up his arm and placed it next to him so she could slide out of bed. With the little movement she made Josh woke up looking confused and said, "Kate what are you doing it's," he paused to look at the clock, "2:00 in the morning."

She looked at her phone to confirm the caller even though she knew who it'd be. "Well you know what they say, murder never sleeps," she said as she pressed the answer button.

"Hey Ryan please tell me this just you calling to say hey."

"Afraid not Beckett. We have another murder. Do you want me to call Castle."

When Ryan said his name her breath hitched. She really didn't want to have to see him today especially after what had happened the day before.

"No it's alright I'll call him. Just give me the address."

"It's at 10th and Washington. Hey Beckett are you alright you sound a little upset."

"I'm fine thanks for asking. I'll see you soon." She hung up the phone and started rubbing her temples.

"Everything ok?"

Kate didn't expect Josh to still be awake, but he was and he was staring straight at her with a sympathetic look on his face.

"No I'm fine go back to bed," Kate said as she leaned over to give Josh a kiss, "There was a murder and I have to go. I'll be back though and we can have lunch or something."

"Ok I'll hold you to that. I need to talk to you anyway," Josh said as he rubbed Kate's arm.

It only took her 15 minutes to get to the crime scene and when she arrived she saw him.

"Castle what are you doing here? I didn't call you."

"Yes thanks for that by the way. I thought I could trust you when it came to telling me when there was a murder."

Why was he acting so normal? "Sorry I just figured you wouldn't want to have to get up at 2:00 in the morning to go to a disturbing crime scene."

"Hasn't stopped me before Beckett why would it stop me now?"

She was speechless so instead of trying to prolong the awkward encounter she walked towards the yellow tape.

"Lanie what do you have for me?"

"20 year old Caucasian female named Sara Goodmand killed around 11:00 o'clock last night from multiple stabs to the chest and a hit to the head."

"Is it the same guy?" Kate could barely bring herself to ask.

"Yes. I only know that for a fact because, as usual, he left a letter." She said as she gave Beckett the letter.

_Dear Nikki, _

_I'm getting impatient. I'm going to stop being so nice to these woman. Next time I might torture her a before I kill her and I'll like it, but she won't. Better watch your back Nikki it might be someone close to your heart. _

_Sincerely,_

_Your Loving Fan_

"Oh God," Kate said as she suddenly became faint and reached out for something to stable her. That something just happened to be Castle.

"Beckett are you alright. Kate!" Castle shouted at her.

All she could do was shove the letter at him and make him read it himself. They were thinking the same thing because when Castle was done reading it she heard him whisper, "Alexis."

With the hand he wasn't using to hold Beckett up he dug out his cell phone and called Alexis.

"She's not answering. Beckett she isn't answering. What do I do?" Castle yelled.

"Come on," Beckett stood up straight as she got her balance back, "Let's go see if she's at your loft."

Rick hadn't ever seen Kate drive so quickly until now. She was going at least 25 over the speed limit whipping in and out of lanes. The ride that should have taken them 30 minutes only took 10. As fast as humanly possible they hopped out of the car and were running for the stairs to Castles loft, which unfortunately for them was on the 5th floor. As Kate reached the top of the stairs Rick was already opening the door to his loft.

"Oh thank God," Kate heard Rick say as she walked through the door to find him hugging Alexis.

"Dad what's wrong? You're acting as if you'll never see me again." The irony of what she said made Kate tear up.

"I'm just glad you're safe. Why didn't you answer your phone?"

"Because I was getting ready for school and I didn't hear it ring. What's wrong?"

"No no you're not going to school today. You are going to the Hampton's with your grandmother."

"But dad I have a huge test today. I can't miss it just to hang out with grams at the beach."

"There is no negotiating you are doing what I tell you to do," Rick said as he walked about to call Martha.

"Do you know what is going on?" Alexis asked now directing her full attention to Kate.

"Uh…I…I probably shouldn't say anything."

"Beckett please tell me what's going on. My dad never acts like this so I'm a little freaked out right now."

"All I'm going to say is you're not safe here right now. You're dad is just doing what's best for you."

Kate could tell Alexis was confused, but she didn't want to say anything that would upset the girl. So instead she stood up and told Alexis she was going to use the restroom. As she walked down the hall she could hear Castle explaining the situation to Martha.

"Because mom there is some sicko out there killing innocent woman and Kate got a letter saying that he was going to go after someone close to her."

Beckett wondered if he often called her Kate when he was talking other people. It made her feel special when he called her by her first name. Something about the way he said it was so charming.

"Ok thanks mom. I'm going to have a driver drive her to you just in case the killer is watching us. I don't want him following her and finding where I sent you."

"I love you too mom. Be careful."

Kate hadn't realized that their conversation was over and before she knew it Castle had walked out of his room and ran straight into her.

"Were you eavesdropping on me Detective Beckett?" He said in a sly tone as he wiggled his eyebrows.

Once again he caught her by surprise, "I…I…was…just…uh… looking for the bathroom."

"You know where it is, but in case you forgot last door on the left," he said with a quick wink.

Before Kate knew it she was inside the bathroom leaning up against the door wondering what was wrong with her. She was acting like so love struck teenager. Everything in her life seemed to be falling apart. She was in love with two different men, both of which loved her, a murderer was on the loose and usually by now she would have caught him, but everything was falling apart.

When Kate finally returned to the living room she saw Alexis giving Castle a hug. Oh how she wished that that was her. She had wanted kids for so many years, but with her job it would difficult not to mention she wasn't even married which would make it even harder. Kate was startled when Alexis walked up to her and wrapped her arms around her waist in a killer hug.

"Goodbye Kate. Please take care of my dad and make sure he doesn't get into any more trouble than he already is."

Kate slightly chuckled, "I can't make any promises, but I'll try for both our sakes."

A strange man that Kate had never seen before walked up and took Alexis's bags from her and headed towards the door.

"Who's that?" Kate whispered to Castle.

"Oh that is my personal driver. He is taking Alexis to the Hampton's for me just in case anybody is watching us."

Castle turned his attention back to Alexis and said, "Goodbye honey I love you very much. Don't hesitate to call if you need anything. Be safe." Castle gave Alexis one last hug before she followed the slender man out the door.

"Well Castle there is nothing left for me to do so I think I'm going to head home."

Castle actually sounded semi-scared, "Wait Beckett you can't leave me here all alone."

"I'm sure you've been all alone before in your house. You'll be fine I promise."

"Yes, but that was never when a serial killer was trying to kill me or my family. I need special protection from a detective."

"Even if I wanted to stay I couldn't. I don't have any clothes or."

"Oh don't worry I've got plenty of clothes. Please Beckett just this one night. You can have the comfy guest bedroom."

"Fine Castle only tonight though. Now where's a shirt and some shorts so I can go to bed."

"Follow me detective."

It was 12 o'clock when Castle woke up to someone talking in the other room. He slipped out as quietly as he could and walked to wear the light was coming from. He soon found that the light belonged to the kitchen lamp and the voice to Detective Beckett. By her tone he could tell she was sad and angry all at once. He soon realized that she was talking to Josh, the once person he truly didn't like.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't get back to you for lunch I had a case."

"Yes I know, but I was so busy."

"You can't get mad at me when you decided to go to Africa without telling me until now."

"No Josh I can't do this anymore. I'll see you when you get back, but as far as I'm concerned we're over."

After she hung up the phone tears started to fall down her face. If she had known Castle was watching her this entire time she would have held strong and tried to make it to the bathroom before she started to cry. As she turned to stand up she saw him leaning up against the wall staring at her intently.

"Sorry did I wake you? I just…um…"

She hadn't even finished her sentence before he was standing right in front of her with their hands intertwined. All she could do at that moment was look up at his ocean blue eyes and smile.

"I love you Kate." It was the first time he had called her by her first name to her face and she slightly shivered at how right it felt.

"I love you too Rick."


	4. Chapter 4

To say things had changed would have been an understatement. Josh and Kate had broken up after 6 months of dating, Lanie and Esposito had a relationship, and Castle and Kate still hadn't figure out anything.

"Why don't you have kids?" It was from out of the blue but Kate wasn't surprised to hear Castle question her yet again about her personal life.

"I don't know. I guess I've always wanted kids but it never really worked out. It has always been because of my job. That and I don't really have anyone to have kids with."

Things had been extremely awkward between Castle and Beckett ever since they had confessed their love for each other. Castle had taken the first leap but Kate was hesitant on taking the next one.

"What about adoption? You don't need a man to do that."

"Castle I told you my job is too demanding to allow me to have kids. Why are you stuck on the subject of me having kids anyway?"

"I don't know. We've never really talked about it and since I'm writing a book with a character based off of you I need to know every little detail."

"You have used that excuse so many times. It's really starting to get old," Beckett had a slight chuckle to her voice.

"Well that's my only excuse to get you to tell me anything. So I have to use it."

"Hey sorry to interrupt your important conversation but I just got a call saying there's a body on 9th and Lincoln," Ryan called.

This girl was younger than the last. She seemed to be around Alexis's age which terrified Beckett.

"She's 17," Lanie said almost as if reading Beckett's mind, "It looks like the killer prolonged the death like he said he would."

"How exactly did she die?" Beckett choked out.

Lanie pointed to the girl's wrists, "By the indentions here it looks like he wrapped barb wire around her wrists as if to keep her from escaping."

Kate could see Castle's breathe hitch and knew he wasn't going to handle this one very well.

"Castle, why don't you go wait in the car?"

"Kate I'll be fine. I just wasn't prepared for what Lanie said."

"Are you alright now?" Castle shook his head to tell Lanie to proceed.

"We also discovered these lesions on her back."

"What are they from?" Beckett and Castle asked in unison.

"It looks like he might have whipped her with a material that is about an inch in width."

"So which one did she die from?" Castle asked as if trying to get Lanie to finish quickly.

"Neither." That got her a few confused looks. "It seems that the killer drowned her in oil."

Beckett didn't want to know anymore she just wanted to leave.

"Did he leave another letter?"

Lanie reached for the letter that she had set aside. "Read for yourself."

_Dear Nikki,_

_I see that you've tried to hide Alexis from me. That wasn't a smart move because I will find her and you'll be sorry I did._

_Sincerely,_

_Your Loving Fan_

This time there wasn't just the letter, there was also a picture. As Beckett unfolded the picture Castle read the letter. Castle finished the letter in time to look up and see Beckett's eyes tear up. He then saw the picture. It was a picture Castle had taken of Alexis last year in the park. She had her back to the camera with the sun streaming down on her auburn colored hair. It's obvious that she had no clue Castle was about to take a picture until she turned her head in mid-laugh just in time to see Castle take it.

"Let's go," Beckett yelled to Castle.

"What?"

"Castle, did you not hear anything I just said? We're going to the lake house to make sure Martha and Alexis are ok. Let's go!" She said it this time with a little more force.

When they arrived at the lake house all the lights were off. To Kate it seemed a little suspicious, but she didn't want to say anything. Instead she pulled out her gun and held it by her side.

Castle suddenly stopped and asked, "Why do you have you gun out?"

"Better safe than sorry Castle," she said as she continued to walk towards the house.

When they got inside Beckett immediately brought her gun up so she was ready to shoot if needed. The house suddenly became illuminated. Beckett whirled around to see what caused it and saw Castle standing with his hand on the light switch. Beckett gave him a "what were you thinking look."

"Sorry I couldn't see," he said as he shrugged his shoulders.

As the lights were turned on and everything in the house became visible it was apparent that someone had been there. Chairs were flipped over, papers were strewn among the floor, and picture frames cracked. Beckett and Castle were speechless.

"Alexis. Mother. Are you here?" There was no answer.

"Alexis. Mother. Hello?" This time Castle yelled it. There was still no answer.

All the sudden there seemed to be noise coming from the pantry. Beckett rushed over, pointed her gun towards the pantry, and opened the door. Inside Martha was sitting with duck tape over her mouth and thick rope wrapped around her body.

"Oh my gosh," Kate whispered. She tried to take the tape off as gently as she could, but just resorted to ripping it off in one quick swipe.

"AHHH," Martha yelled in agony.

"Sorry, I had no choice. Is Alexis here?" Beckett quickly asked.

"I don't know. I think they took her. All I remember was making lunch and something suddenly hitting the back of my head."

Castle rushed over to untie his mother as Kate started to look through the house just in case Alexis was still there. When Kate realized that Alexis wasn't there she returned to the kitchen to find Castle trying to comfort his mother.

"I'm so sorry mother I had no idea that this would happen."

"It's alright darling. None of us knew. What we need to focus on right now is finding Alexis."

"I couldn't find her," Kate said startling the both of them.

As Castle stood there shaking his head as if he were putting the blame all on him, Kate called Esposito and Ryan to tell them what was happening.

"Hey it's Beckett. We are Castle's lake house. Someone has taken Alexis. No I think Martha is fine, just a little shaken up. Get ballistics out here to see if they can pick up any trace of this guy. I think Castle is going to stay here with his mom, but I'll be back."

"Are you not staying with me?" Castle asked from the doorway.

"Oh God Castle you scared the crap out of me. I had no idea you were right there. How is it that you always manage to creep up on me when I'm the cop?" she asked trying to lighten the mood.

Again he asked, "So you aren't staying here?"

"Castle, I would love to, but we both know that I need to get back to work so I can try to find who took Alexis."

"Ok. I'm coming with you."

"Don't you think you should stay here with your mother? Make sure she's alright."

"Alexis is my daughter and I need to find her."

"Ok then let's go."


End file.
